Body or soul?
by I'm Beth
Summary: Remember when Wanda asked Ian if he'd still love her if she was in a boys body? hmmmm. . . rated T for. . . certain scenes. i don't want to give anything away. not AU.


Body or Soul?

Twelve days, nine hours, and thirty minutes since I'd seen Wanda.

Twelve days, nine hours, and thirty minutes since I"d been sure Wanda was safe. . . or even _alive_.

Twelve days, nine hours, and thirty minutes ago, I was happy and Wanda was safe, and we were perfect. Everything had seemed so (maybe too) perfect. The calm before the storm. I had gotten to the point where I was almost grateful the Earth had gotten taken over by aliens, because if it hadn't, I would have ever met Wanda.

But that didn't matter anymore. None of it would matter if Wanda was dead.

Twelve days, nine hours and thirty minutes ago something unexpected had happened. It had snowed. It had been the first time Wanda had seen snow on Earth.

Of course, everyone was excited and wanted to out and play in it, so we let some of the little kids (and Wanda) out, but not too far, and took turns watching them. Wanda stayed out the longest. It was Doc's turn to watch. And I was on a raid; it was cold in the caves and we needed more blankets. I keep thinking that maybe if I had been there, it wouldn't have happened. . . But I wasn't there, and it did happen.

Wanda and Doc were the only ones out there at that point. Just messing around and throwing snow at each other, like little kids, not really paying much attention, because they'd been out all day, and nothing had happened. So they didn't even notice when the seekers came.

That was the scene my mind was conjuring up, anyway. I didn't know how it really happened. _I hadn't been there. _

So they'd been gone, for twelve days, nine hours, and thirty min- er, I mean thirty-one minutes.

"Ian, you're a mess, man." Kyle said. He looked genuinely concerned. An emotion I hadn't thought possible from him until Sunny. "When was the last time you got a good night sleep?"

Twelve days, nine hours, and thirty-one minutes ago, I wanted to say, but didn't want him to worry unnecessarily. I felt fine. I _was_ fine. Except for the fact that the love of my life and/or one of my best friends might be dead. But other than that, I was fine.

Sunny sat silently next to Kyle. She was still somewhat afraid of me, being that her first impression of me had been that of a rampaging brute, grabbing girls and randomly kicking guys in the face. But I knew there was nothing she would complain about as long as she was with Kyle. I really envied them right now.

We were in the cafeteria, but I wasn't eating. I hadn't been eating much since Wanda and Doc had disappeared. I nibbled a piece of bread here, took a sip of water there. I just wasn't hungry. The thought of Wanda or Doc. . . _being dead_, it drove all other needs from me. All I wanted was to find them. The minute I came back from looking for them, I wanted to go look for them again. I can imagine Wanda was scared and alone, and probably wondering where I was, and why hadn't I found her yet.

Jared and I were out searching again. Or maybe I should be truthful and say we were just burning up gas and calling it searching. Two days ago, Joshua, a soul from another large group of humans, had been kidnapped by seekers. Everyone was scared that the seekers had found us out, so we had been laying low for a while. Except for those of us who refused to accept that those kidnapped were gone and continued to look. Melanie and Jamie had wanted to come, but it was risky enough with just me an Jared.

"Where would they keep rebel souls?" Jared mumbled to himself, staring at the many buildings as they whizzed by, probably thinking the same thing I was. _They could be in any of these buildings, but we have no clue as to which one._

"Maybe-" I started, but stopped when my cell phone rang, a convenience we hadn't had until we befriended the souls. It was Jeb. "Hello?" I asked dully. They were probably calling about someone else going missing, a heartbreaking thought I could hardly stand.

"Where is she? Are they okay?" I was shouting and running and probably looked like an idiot, but I didn't care. Because Wanda was safe. She was home. They were all home. And she was waiting for me.

I burst into the Doc's small office and my eyes immediately fell on her. My Wanda. She was lying on her back on one of the creaky cots with her eyes closed. On the cot next to her was Doc, snoring softly, and on her other side was someone who I could only assume was Joshua, and standing beside him was a girl (who I later learned was Joshua's girlfriend, Lindsay -I was going to miss being the only inter-species couple). But I only had eyes for Wanda.

I immediately went to her side and grabbed her hand. "Wanda? Wanda, wake up, sweetie." I crooned softly.

"Let her rest." Melanie murmured, standing on the other side of the cot. Jared joined her in a second and kissed her cheek softly.

"Why is she asleep?" I asked. "She's alright, isn't she?" Dread crept up my spine as I waited for the answer.

Melanie frowned. "When Steven found them, they were all unconscious. Wanda and Joshua were taken out of their bodies." I must have paled a shade or two, because she quickly added, "We put them back, so they should be fine." She smiled and patted Wanda's forehead. "She'll be fine. I can tell."

I wish I had the same assurance as she did.

Finally, they began to wake up.

"I-Ian?" It was the sound I had been waiting to hear all afternoon, but not from the person that I expected.

While Wanda lay still and unconscious, Joshua stirred from under the watchful eye of Lindsay. "Ian," He murmured again, his head sweeping from side to side, fingers twitching. His eyelids fluttered, and his brows knit in frustration.

I looked at him, then at the baffled Lindsay, then at the baffled Jared and Melanie. "How does he know me?" I'm not sure why I was whispering. And as far as I could remember, I had never met him before, and even if it had, it couldn't have been very memorable, at least not enough for me to be the first one he looked for when he woke up.

Nobody had an answer for me.

Joshua's hand slid around on the cot, searching. Uncertainly, Lindsay placed her hand in his. "Josh? Josh, are you okay? It's me; Lindsay." Josh frowned, his hand sitting in hers, unsatisfied.

Then, his eyes flashed open, and darted around, like a frightened animal's. They landed on me, and he smiled. "Ian!" He sounded calm, almost peaceful when he said it. He started to reach out for me, but his hand was still attached to Lindsay's. He looked at their clasped hands in confusion. "Who are you?"

At that exact moment, Wanda started to wake up. Hands twitching, eyes fluttering, lips trembling. "Linz. . . Linz," Then her eyes opened and they landed directly on Lindsay. . . and her face lit up.

My heart stopped beating, as thought slid, unwillingly, into my head.

"You idiot." I'm not sure who I was addressing this to, since I'm not sure who put Wanda and Joshua back into their respective bodies -or had tried to- but it was too late, because Wanda reached her hand up, cupped the back of a startled Lindsay's neck, and leaned up to kiss her on the lips.

We couldn't switch them back to their proper bodies just yet. They needed some food, which they had been denied when they captured by the seekers, and wounds that needed healing, which they had gotten trying to escape.

Things felt awkward and stiff, or maybe that was just for Lindsay, Wanda and me, because Josh seemed totally at ease, flouncing around in my love's body, talking about how he'd always wanted to know how it felt to be a girl. Walking daintily and kissing his embarrassed girlfriend, like nothing was different. . .

Hadn't Wanda and I talked about something like this before? She asked me if I would have still fallen in love with her if she had come here in Wes's body, and though this wasn't Wes's body, it _was_ a guy's body, so, same thing. Wanda and I were in our room, and she was trying unsuccessfully to sleep. I watched her as she tossed and turned. Everything about her was the same. The way she spoke, the way she moved, all her seemingly insignificant looks meant everything to me now.

I'd nearly lost her.

I crept over to where she lay and wrapped her in my arms. She stiffened in surprise, and looked at me with wide, unfamiliar eyes. "Don't you scare me like that again." I barely breathed the words, whispering them into the top of her head. Instead of a cluster of blond curls, there was only short brown hair. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Wanda touched my stomach hesitantly, and the muscles in my abdomen galloped excitedly. "You've lost a lot of weight." She scolded my quietly, outlining my more prominent ribs with feather light touches of her fingers. "You've been eating properly, haven't you?"

I dipped my head guiltily. "I've been really worried about you." I confessed in way of answering. I could tell she was about to scold me, so I quickly tilted her head back and said, "Do you remember when you asked me if I would have still fallen in love with you if you had come here in a guys body?"

She squinted at me, blushed, and nodded.

"Well," I said. " I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that one, but I do know one thing." I grinned at her impishly. "I still love you even as a guy. And I'm still willing to do this," Leaning down, I quickly swallowed my pride, and did something I had been sure I'd never do in my entire life.

I kissed a boy.

I mean I really _kissed_ a boy (but technically a girl), right on the mouth. Tongue and all. (This is coming from a guy who's never even kissed his brother on the cheek as a kid -if I had, he would have beaten me up)

Wanda made a small sound in the back of her throat, her hands tightly gripping the material of my shirt. I pushed her down on the bed and kissed her now male neck in time to her heady gasps. "I-Ian. . . I- ahh. . ."

I pulled away to smirk at her unfamiliar face. The boy's body lie beneath me, with flushed cheeks half lidded bedroom eyes. I focused on the fact that, no matter what it looked like, it really was Wanda inside there. "So. . ." I prompted when she remained silent.

She looked at me for a long time, embarrassment momentarily overriding her muted desire. "Boy bodies are much different than girl bodies." She noted quietly. Oh. I couldn't help but be flattered.

"Ian. . . does this mean you like boys, too?"

I laughed out loud, making her blush brighten. "No, but I do like Wandas, regardless of gender." I kissed her again, and this time, she laughed with me.


End file.
